The three-headed monster, enduring the pain, turned and swung its battle axe at Zhang Shi's head. Zhang Shi gripped the cleaver with both hands, crouched down to dodge the attack, and chopped hard, slicing open the monster's chest. Instantly, a large clump of filth, like mud, gushed out, and the monster was severely injured, retreating continuously.

"Boom!"

A tremendous tremor shook the ground.

Zhang Shi knew that the sound of their fighting had attracted the earth beasts, but at this moment he was blinded by the death of Zhang Dazhuang and did not intend to escape. Instead, he wanted to kill the culprit in one fell swoop.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Before Zhang Shi and the three-headed monster could make a move, a large swarm of black giant lizards suddenly emerged from the ground where they were fighting. It was the first time Zhang Shi had seen such bizarre reptiles, and his mind involuntarily connected them to the Xenomorphs.

Without a word, the giant lizards launched an indiscriminate attack on everyone present. Despite the ground still shaking violently, the lizards moved with incredible speed, as if walking on flat ground. Zhang Shi lost his balance and could only retreat continuously, choosing to temporarily avoid their onslaught.

Faced with the sudden appearance of a swarm of black monitor lizards, the battle situation instantly became more complex and critical. Zhang Shi retreated while observing the situation. These monitor lizards had skin as hard as iron, moved nimbly, and constantly sprayed corrosive liquid from their mouths. Once it came into contact with their equipment, even it would be difficult to withstand, and holes would quickly be corroded out.

"Everyone be careful, these guys are not to be trifled with!" Zhang Shi shouted to his teammates, while using the Shadow Step to nimbly dodge in the narrow space, trying to avoid direct confrontation with the giant lizards.

Zhao Feng wielded his battle axe, creating a fierce storm in an attempt to halt the giant lizards' attack. However, the lizards were numerous, and his power was quickly dispersed, making it difficult to form an effective defense. Wu Qing, on the other hand, swiftly released defensive barriers to protect herself and her teammates from the corrosive liquid, while simultaneously unleashing offensive spells to try and slow the giant lizards' onslaught.

Ge Dalong used ice magic to condense a thin layer of ice on the ground, slowing down the giant lizards' movements. However, this was only temporary. As the giant lizards adjusted their pace, the ice was quickly broken.

At the same time, the ground shook more violently, and in an instant, the area where everyone was located formed an almost 60-degree angle, and everyone uncontrollably fell to the bottom.

Zhang Shi struggled to insert Lao Duan diagonally into the ground, hanging him on a high sloping surface. Only then did he realize that they were actually inside the mouth of a giant creature.

"Is it an earth beast?"

Staring at the enormous maw, which was even larger than the entire city lord's mansion, Zhang Shi was completely shocked by this scene.

Just as everyone was about to perish in the monster's jaws, Zhang Shi was astonished to find that golden light was flashing in his backpack.

Zhang Shi, as if grasping at a lifeline, examined his backpack and discovered that the source of the golden light was the golden token, given to him by Chen Beipan, said to unlock the ultimate secret of the secret realm. Zhang Shi held the golden token in his hand; its light grew even brighter, enveloping him in a golden halo. However, this did nothing to change their current predicament. The giant beast's jaws snapped shut, swallowing them all whole. The land of Mist City returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.

Zhang Shi was awakened by a blinding golden light. He found himself in a closed space, which was no more than five square meters in size and just high enough for Zhang Shi to stand up.

Zhang Shi looked at the still glowing token in his hand, unsure of his current situation. He clearly remembered being swallowed whole by a creature that resembled an earth beast, so what was going on now?

Thinking about the Earth Beast, Zhang Shi felt a headache coming on. He clearly remembered that Ge Dalong and Wu Qing had killed it with the zombie virus, and the system's mission also confirmed this. However, he still encountered the Earth Beast causing trouble afterward. Zhang Shi guessed that there might be more than one Earth Beast under the Fog City.

Zhang Shi tried using the teleportation function of Fog City and the system's built-in evacuation function, but found that neither worked, realizing that he was trapped.

Silently putting the token into his backpack, Zhang Shi casually took out an oil lamp. He touched the wall and found it was all dirt. Zhang Shi picked off a clod of soil with his finger and used his "True Sense" technique to examine it, finding it to be ordinary soil with nothing special about it.

Zhang Shi immediately realized that the earth beasts lived underground in Fog City, and that he was likely in some underground space within Fog City.

Zhang Shi frowned, opened the system panel, and found that his teammates were all alive, indicating that there were no further casualties; however, all contact methods were blocked. He used his contract ring to sense Chen Beipan's condition, and the other party was also not dead, and the connection between them was even stronger than when they had explored earlier.

Zhang Shi roused himself, took out the old blade, and began digging diagonally upwards. Unfortunately, the blade was too short, making the digging inefficient. So Zhang Shi took out a shovel and began digging a tunnel in the confined space.

Thanks to his superhuman abilities, Zhang Shi worked very efficiently, and soon expanded the space to the size of a room. However, as he continued working, Zhang Shi felt that the space was becoming increasingly stuffy, indicating that the cave had poor ventilation and very limited oxygen levels.

Zhang Shi gritted his teeth and continued digging diagonally upwards. He knew that time was extremely precious, and if he couldn't save himself, he might suffocate to death in this earthen cave.

Just as Zhang Shi felt his strength gradually waning and his breathing becoming difficult, his shovel suddenly struck something hard, making a loud clang. Overjoyed, he immediately quickened his pace, and soon a hole, just wide enough for one person to pass through, appeared before him.

Zhang Shi probed the opening with his hand and found that the material was similar to that of the buildings in Fog City—hard and without any gaps, as if it were a single, integrated structure.

Without hesitation, Zhang Shi crawled out. Soon after, the view opened up before him, revealing a huge underground cave. The air was filled with a faint earthy smell and an indescribable ancient aura.

Using the light of the oil lamp, Zhang Shi looked around but didn't find any useful information. However, there was air circulation, suggesting that there might be a passage connecting to the outside world.

Zhang Shi tried to dig at the top of the cave with a shovel, but found that the top of the cave was very solid, and it was not practical to dig with his old shovel. So he postponed digging at the top and started digging along the boundary between the soil and the cave entrance. Unexpectedly, after working for only a few minutes, Zhang Shi dug something up.

A battle axe fell from directly above him, the spilled soil seeping into the gaps in Zhang Shi's armor and covering him in dust.

"Ptooey!"

Zhang Shi picked up the battle axe and discovered that it was actually Zhao Feng's desperate battle axe. Overjoyed, he immediately dug even harder upwards.